Page 9 - bne_newspaper_April_19_2019

The Regions This Week
April 19, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Southeast Europe
Turkey’s biggest refiner Tupras won a five-year tender to supply jet fuel to Istanbul’s new mega airport. In a filing with the Borsa Istanbul, Tupras said that it is to sell 1.8mn tonnes of jet fuel each year at Istanbul Airport. Some fuel sales had already been processed, it added.
General Electric is interested in participating in Bulgaria’s project to build the Belene nuclear power plant, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said. The Bulgarian government plans to re-launch the Belene nuclear power plant project and is looking for foreign investors.
Serbia will take countermeasures against Kosovo if Pristina fails to revoke 100% tariffs imposed on imports of Serbian products by May 6, media cited President Aleksandar Vucic. Kosovo introduced 100% tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in November 2018, after Belgrade thwarted Pristina’s bid to join Interpol.
North Macedonia’s authorities declared a measles epidemic throughout the country in an attempt to prevent a further spreading of the disease. Since the first cases were reported in December 2018, the outbreak of measles has claimed several victims so far due to complications from the infection.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €11mn to Albania for the regeneration of the Lana River area in Tirana. This is the first integrated ur- ban regeneration project in the Western Balkans covering several sectors including mobility, pub- lic transport, urban infrastructure and flood risk protection.
The Dutch parliament voted in favour of a propos- al to restore the visa regime with Albania, due to the rising crime committed by the Albanian mafia. Albanian citizens have been able to travel free to EU countries since December 2010.
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto is deciding between Bulgaria and Turkey for a new factory with
an annual capacity of 350,000 vehicles, Czech daily Hospodarske noviny reported. Skoda will reportedly make its Karoq SUV and the Seat Ateca SUV there from around 2023.
Bosnia's majority state-owned Ljubija mine posted a net loss of BAM0.4mn (€0.2mn) in 2018, swinging from a net profit of BAM1.9mn in 2017. The government of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska has been trying to privatise its share in the mine for years, but without success.
European technology-focused private equity and venture capital firm 3TS Capital Partners will launch Catalyst Romania II, a new fund with
a target capitalisation of about €40mn, this year, Wall Street reported. Catalyst Romania II will be mainly for Romania, but will also look
for opportunities in neighbouring countries like Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Moldova.
Toronto-listed gas firm Valeura that is testing onshore gas resources in Turkey’s Thrace basin expects its shares to start trading on
the London Stock Exchange in a non-dilutive secondary listing next week. Valeura, operating with Norway’s Equinor, is exploring the potential to extract gas in Turkey by fracking.
The number of passengers serviced by Croatia's airports rose 9.9% y/y to 252,000 in February, data from the statistics office showed. Traffic at Croatian airports has been increasing robustly in recent years thanks to successful tourism seasons. Last year, traffic at Croatian airports jumped 10.2% to 10.5mn.
The Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) confirmed Ascent Resources’ IPPC permit as fully valid. Oil and gas exploration and production company Ascent will be able to go ahead with the installation of a small processing facility which would enable Slovenian gas to be sold into the local national grid system.